I Know You
by Lautari
Summary: A two chapter piece concentrating on Han and Poe's POVs during snippets of TFA Flashbacks italicized.
1. Chapter 1

For all my obsession with Star Wars as a child, this is my first fanfic. I hope you enjoy. There were some emotional nuances that I felt TFA lacked, that I hope were left out from fear of giving too much away and will show in the other films in the trilogy. But for now, I will tide myself over with fanfics of devoted fans. Also, the EU will always hold a special place in my heart. Mara Jade forever.

00000

He'd known who she was the moment he pulled her up from the bowels of the _Falcon_.

Living in relative isolation on Jakku, her aristocratic Core accent was undiluted. He'd teased the kid relentlessly when the little girl started sounding out her syllables with her mother's lilt. _"The little princess isn't from Tatooine that's for sure."_

But when she finally straightened and stood before him in those dusty robes, his heart fell a little. _It's Luke._ His brother in law had disappeared years ago, the last memory Han had of his dear friend marred in the shadows of the Coruscanti night while he stood in their home, shaking and grief-stricken. _"They're gone," he'd whispered. "Everything. Everyone."_

Han had known it was Ben. He'd seen his son transform from a happy little boy to a scowling youth. Leia and Han had been good parents, devoted even, though somewhat distracted in the New Republic's formative years. Never absent though. But the tumultuous relationship between his parents affected Ben greatly. At fifteen, even without the Force, Han knew that the darkness in Ben's eyes was not teenage sulkiness.

00000

 _Leia was the first to move, a shaking hand reaching out to her brother's arm, but Luke couldn't bare her touch, let alone meet her gaze. "I'm sorry," was all he said._

 _Trying to take stock of the situation and pull close everyone he had left at that point, Han asked, "Where's Mara?"_

" _She's gone."_

 _Leia stiffened in shock as her brother turned to leave._

 _Han surveyed the room for the little figure that was her father's ever present shadow. "And…?"_

 _Luke paused before pulling his hood up. "She's gone, too."_

00000

Han pulled away from old memories and studied her as he approached her on Takodana. He had studied her in the cockpit as well, too afraid to ask her name. She raised her face to the sunlight, taking in all the flora _. "I've never seen so much green,"_ she'd said.

But she had. In another life, she'd reveled in the lush green of Yavin 4, running after Ben and the Dameron boy, who'd been tasked with keeping a watchful eye on her while their parents visited as friends and former comrades. She had splashed in the bountiful turquoise oceans of her mother's home world, Iyree, with her father, who would never grow tired of having enough bath water, let alone a vast ocean to swim in.

Swallowing, he finally gathered the nerve to ask, "You got a name?"

She smiled and nervously handled the blaster he'd given her. "Rey."

"Rey," he repeated. A faint smile crossed his face though her omission cut him. She had been Rey since ten year old Ben had crept up to her cradle and peered in at her and called her by it. Luke had named her with Han's permission after informing the smuggler of his and Mara's choice while the two were rewiring the mapping system on the _Falcon_.

00000

" _Wh – why would you want to name her that?"_

 _Luke tapped his wrench against the palm of his mechanical hand and leaned against the console. "We want the kids to have good, solid names, right?"_

" _But you could name her anything, kid." Han ducked back underneath the console. "Her grandmother was kind of a big deal."_

 _Luke smiled. He and Leia had fit the final pieces of the parentage together recently when Lor San Tekka had approached them with holodocs and vids from the late Republican era that he thought they would find of interest. Leia had stopped on a Senate committee portrait and traced the outline of the young woman seated on her Bail Organa's right. "That's her," she'd whispered, pulling from her memory. "That's our mother."_

" _We never knew our mother," Luke said a little wistfully. "We want to honor those we knew, who were flesh and blood to us. Loved." He scratched his head, grinning. "She was going to be Owen, but Mara won that bet." He sobered. "Besides, she's probably going to be the only girl."_

 _Han slid out from under the cramped work space. He and Leia had accepted in recent years that Ben would be their only child. He nodded. "Well, Freya is a good Corellian name." He fiddled with the greasy towel in his hands, remembering his younger sister whom he had lost so many years ago. "Thank you."_

He'd meant it when he'd told Finn they wouldn't leave without her. Luke had lost a hand because he refused to leave them to his father's mercy. Han would be damned if he left Luke's daughter to his son's.


	2. Chapter 2

He had known who he was the moment he had crouched in front of him.

Even with the mask, the cocky swagger and arrogant way he balanced on the balls of his feet while studying his prey gave him away. He was a Solo. There was no trace of the excited young boy who'd always managed to best him in hand to hand combat though.

Poe raised an eyebrow. "So who talks first? You talk first, I talk first?"

They both knew the game.

"The old man gave it to you."

Poe bristled at _old man,_ as if his childhood friend hadn't just struck down a man he'd known his entire life. "It's just very hard to understand you with all that –"

"Search him."

"-apparatus."

 _Take off that mask. I know who you are._

00000

" _I got you!" the ten year old shrieked, pumping his fist in the air. He twirled the stick he had used to land a victorious jab through his fingers deftly. He crouched down, grinning, but then frowned. "You okay?"_

 _Poe wheezed but pushed the younger boy backwards, playfully. "Fine. That's two I owe you." He took off up the rope ladder hanging from the old Masai tree he'd claimed as his fort._

 _The grin quickly returned to Ben's face and he scampered after him. "Maybe if you spent less time in that old broken down cockpit you'd be able handle a kali better," he called_

 _Poe grinned at the goading. The X-wing was a skeleton, a parted out piece of scrap left behind during the Rebellion's hasty departure from the planet, but all he'd needed was controls. "If I'm going to be the best pilot in the fleet, I could care less about kali. A couple of years I'm going to be in real cockpit."_

 _Ben scowled, like he did every time Poe talked about heading for the Academy as soon as he turned 16. "I don't want you to go."_

" _It's another three years, bud. Besides, you're already training with your uncle. And you've got Freya now. She'll be right next to you before you know it."_

 _Ben scowled even more. "She cries a lot."_

 _Poe grinned. He knew Ben adored his new cousin, but was jealous about the upheaval the baby had brought upon the Solo and Skywalker households. "That won't last forever."_

 _The boy shrugged. "She's okay I guess. Pretty."_

 _She was. Poe thought she was the prettiest little creature in the galaxy, not that he'd seen too many babies. Her eyelashes dusted her cheeks while she slept and her little lips formed a little "o" when she gazed at the world around her. The first time he'd held her, their dark eyes stared into each other and she'd grinned and hooked her finger on his lip._

" _She likes you," her mother teased._

 _The spell was broken and the he'd blushed, passing her back sheepishly._

00000

"I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board."

It was an acknowledgement that he recognized the young officer, but he just didn't care. Still, it was an acknowledgement.

"Comfortable?"

Poe winced. "Not really."

"I'm impressed. No one has been able to get out of you what you did with the map."

There was anger, frustration, but Poe still felt no fear _. I know who you are._ If he had been anyone else…..but he wasn't. And the other man hadn't wanted to lay a hand on him. Yet."You might want to rethink your technique."

As far as his old friend had fallen, he was still shocked when his mind was laid open by the Force and old memories thrown aside haphazardly.

"Where is it?"

"The Resistance will not be intimidated by you," Poe gasped, fighting back.

Another _push_. "Where….. _is it_?"

It sounded like begging. But it had always been a battle of wills between them.

00000

 _Poe punched Ben in the arm. "I'll see you soon."_

 _Ben tried to smile._

" _You're not getting left behind, bud." Poe nodded up the ramp for the cadet shuttle. "A couple of years, you'll be there. I'm getting the place ready for you."_

 _Ben nodded. "I know." He shook his long black hair out of his eyes. "Try not to get your ass kicked."_

 _Poe grinned. Suddenly, he felt homesick. For all the dreaming about this moment for years, he knew that tonight in his dorm, on the busy Coruscant surface, he was going to miss the muggy calm of Yavin. "Now I don't want to leave," he admitted. "You pulling some Jedi mind crap on me?"_

 _It was teasing, but Ben frowned indignantly. "I would never use the Force on you."_

 _Poe pulled him in for a hug. He clapped his back. "I know. Stay out of trouble, kid."_


End file.
